Education Classes

A PLAN developed by a committee of administrators, teachers and parents to improve special education in Howard County merits praise. Budget constraints may limit how much of the three-year, $4.7 million initiative will win immediate funding, but nearly every proposal should eventually be implemented.Superintendent Michael E. Hickey is asking for $3.3 million in next year's budget to kick off the program. Most of the money would go toward hiring teachers and other professionals who can meet the needs of disabled students.

WHEN FADS in reading instruction swing away from a phonics-based curriculum, few students suffer more than dyslexics. Recent research pinpointing a difference in brain activity was credited with proving that dyslexia exists, that it is a neurological condition based in the brain and not a question of subpar intelligence or lack of effort.Plenty of people knew that already -- including thousands of dyslexics who became eager readers, good students and successful adults after receiving the correct remediation.

THE BALTIMORE public schools are in disarray -- the result of factors that include too little learning throughout the system and too many special education students, stemming from a well-intentioned lawsuit gone haywire.According to a series of stories by Sun reporters Debbie M. Price, Liz Bowie and Stephen Henderson, a shocking 17.6 percent of Baltimore pupils (compared to a national average of 12 percent and New York City's 7.7 percent) have been assigned to special education classes. While the city ranks dead last in Maryland in spending per pupil for regular education at $3,100, its special education program spends $9,700 per pupil.

The Howard County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has issued a set of recommendations that, while well-meaning in spirit, could prove highly problematic if put into practice. In a report released last week, the group suggests that the county school system eliminate all classes for low achievers, even including special education. Doing away with such courses would establish high expectations for all students, the NAACP's education committee concluded.

The Howard County branch of the NAACP has issued a report calling on the school system to demonstrate high expectations for all students by eliminating classes aimed at low achievers.The report -- presented to the school board last week by the county National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- urges the school system to make a greater effort to ensure that all students are taught at their appropriate grade level and are not labeled "low achievers.""There are disproportionate numbers of African-American students who end up being taken out of their grade level and put in general education classes, skills classes or special education classes," said Natalie Woodson, chairwoman of the county NAACP's education committee.

A settlement aimed at improving special education services for young prison inmates with learning disabilities was reached yesterday between the state and lawyers for a group of inmates.The agreement, approved by the state Board of Public Works in Annapolis, could extend such services to perhaps 300 inmates but does not specify additional funding.Currently, there are about 1,200 inmates under the age of 22 in Maryland prisons. Of those, 80 to 100 receive special education, according to the state Division of Correction.

By the time a man turns 62, he might wonder whether going back to school for a high school diploma is worth the time.For M. Burnell Bortner, not going back would have been the waste."

Doris Moody said her grandson missed five months of classes last year because the Baltimore school system couldn't find a slot for the special education student who has emotional problems and dyslexia, a reading impairment.And after her grandson, Carl Jones, 13, was accepted into Herring Run Middle School last year, he had no regular teacher for two months. Instead, a teacher's aide ran the class while the teacher was out sick, said Ms. Moody.She is so frustrated with the school system that she's now looking for a private school for Carl.

Instead of trying to squeeze driver education into their class schedules, students who want to take the course may have to fit it between extracurricular activities and after-school jobs.The Board of Education will hear a proposal from its staff tomorrow to eliminate driving classes from the school day starting in the 1994-1995 school year, mainly because of increasing costs.Driver education already has been eliminated in Frederick, Anne Arundel, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's and Baltimore counties, according to a report from Carroll's school administrators.

A group of Howard County residents, calling themselves Parents for Quality Education, have gotten it wrong when they criticize the county's family life program. PQE parents are so fearful that their children will be taught about sex in school, they have called in outside help to plot strategy on ways to scuttle the school program.Jim Sedlak, director of the New York-based Stop Planned Parenthood, spoke with PQE parents not long ago and accused Planned Parenthood of everything from benefiting financially from condom sales to spreading secular humanism in the classroom.

Students at Corkran Middle School in Anne Arundel County had quite the exercise routine Tuesday. They ran agility drills on their school field with Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk. They stretched with Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. They high-fived Gov. Martin O'Malley. And they heard repeatedly from some of their sports heroes that they should get out from in front of the computer and TV and get some exercise. Shannon Thomas, an eighth-grade student, bounced excitedly as she watched her classmates run and jump.

The Knight family has scheduled a bull roast fund-raiser from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Kurtz Beach in Pasadena to benefit Heath Knight, who was diagnosed with a blood disease that is a precursor to leukemia. Proceeds will go toward medical costs for Knight's chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. The fund-raiser will feature a disc jockey, raffles, a silent auction and a money wheel. The menu will include pit beef and ham, marinated chicken, Italian sausage, beer, soda and coffee.

Two national surveys reported yesterday that sex education classes often fail to address topics that parents, students and teachers believe are important to young people's understanding of sexuality. The Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., found that parents of public secondary-school students wanted sex education classes to teach a wide range of subjects: Abstinence training won the support of 97 percent of the parents in the survey, but similarly high percentages of parents also wanted schools to teach how to deal with the emotional consequences of sex, how to talk to parents about sex and relationships, and how a student should seek help in cases of sexual assault.

A PLAN developed by a committee of administrators, teachers and parents to improve special education in Howard County merits praise. Budget constraints may limit how much of the three-year, $4.7 million initiative will win immediate funding, but nearly every proposal should eventually be implemented.Superintendent Michael E. Hickey is asking for $3.3 million in next year's budget to kick off the program. Most of the money would go toward hiring teachers and other professionals who can meet the needs of disabled students.

THE BALTIMORE public schools are in disarray -- the result of factors that include too little learning throughout the system and too many special education students, stemming from a well-intentioned lawsuit gone haywire.According to a series of stories by Sun reporters Debbie M. Price, Liz Bowie and Stephen Henderson, a shocking 17.6 percent of Baltimore pupils (compared to a national average of 12 percent and New York City's 7.7 percent) have been assigned to special education classes. While the city ranks dead last in Maryland in spending per pupil for regular education at $3,100, its special education program spends $9,700 per pupil.

WHEN FADS in reading instruction swing away from a phonics-based curriculum, few students suffer more than dyslexics. Recent research pinpointing a difference in brain activity was credited with proving that dyslexia exists, that it is a neurological condition based in the brain and not a question of subpar intelligence or lack of effort.Plenty of people knew that already -- including thousands of dyslexics who became eager readers, good students and successful adults after receiving the correct remediation.

The Howard County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has issued a set of recommendations that, while well-meaning in spirit, could prove highly problematic if put into practice. In a report released last week, the group suggests that the county school system eliminate all classes for low achievers, even including special education. Doing away with such courses would establish high expectations for all students, the NAACP's education committee concluded.

The Howard County branch of the NAACP has issued a report calling on the school system to demonstrate high expectations for all students by eliminating classes aimed at low achievers.The report -- presented to the school board last week by the county National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- urges the school system to make a greater effort to ensure that all students are taught at their appropriate grade level and are not labeled "low achievers.""There are disproportionate numbers of African-American students who end up being taken out of their grade level and put in general education classes, skills classes or special education classes," said Natalie Woodson, chairwoman of the county NAACP's education committee.

By the time a man turns 62, he might wonder whether going back to school for a high school diploma is worth the time.For M. Burnell Bortner, not going back would have been the waste."

Doris Moody said her grandson missed five months of classes last year because the Baltimore school system couldn't find a slot for the special education student who has emotional problems and dyslexia, a reading impairment.And after her grandson, Carl Jones, 13, was accepted into Herring Run Middle School last year, he had no regular teacher for two months. Instead, a teacher's aide ran the class while the teacher was out sick, said Ms. Moody.She is so frustrated with the school system that she's now looking for a private school for Carl.